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Next Wednesday in Austin: Chris Comer at Texas Citizens for Science meeting

Forthcoming Appearance: 2008 January 16 – “Will Texas Support 21st Century Science Education? A Briefing by Texas Citizens for Science”

Time and Location: Wednesday evening, January 16, 7:00 p.m., Mangia Pizza-Mesa location, 8012 Mesa Drive, Austin, Texas. Maps are available here and here. There is no charge, and you can buy all the pizza you want.

Texas Citizens for Science President Steven Schafersman will discuss the mounting threats to science education in Texas. He will cover the forthcoming revision of Texas K-12 science standards, the forced resignation of Chris Comer from the Texas Education Agency, and the effort by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research to obtain Texas certification to grant masters degrees in science education. After the briefing there will be a Q&A session and open discussion. Chris Comer will also be on hand to answer questions about science education in Texas.

I’ll certainly be there, and not just for the pizza. This will be the year the supporters of science are going to face continued histrionic attacks on quality education from well-financed creationist groups out to protect their Bronze Age myths at all costs. Florida also seems to be a state where the forces of organized ignorance are rattling their swizzle sticks. Despite the fairly comprehensive defeat ID suffered in Dover, they just aren’t getting the message. That’s what people are like when they think they can play “choose your own reality,” I suppose. If this matters to you at all — and it should, for it will go a long way towards deciding America’s relevance as a leader in science and innovation in the 21st century — turn up. Plus, Mangia’s pizza is the shiz.

Comments

The room was crowded, about 75-100 people. SRO. Some noted academics showed up. I didn’t get a chance to talk about my idea, so here it is:Let’s assume that the State Board of Education gets its way and science textbooks that are not reliable and accurate are approved. Then the University of Texas should be sued to ensure they don’t accept any high school science course, that used that textbook, as meeting their admission requirements for science units. If UT accepts the new textbook based science classes, it is hurting the university’s high admission standards.